Hawthorne’s Tone
Phillip VernonHawthorne’s tone towards the Puritans is critical while his tone towards Hester is admiring. His criticism is apparent when he points out the Puritan’s hypocrisy, as well as when he shows respect for people and ideas that seem oppositional to Puritan beliefs. Hawthorne’s admiration for Hester becomes clear both when he describes her physical beauty, and her independence.

The Puritans are, at times, extremely hypocritical. They strive to create a Utopia in which all of their perfect citizens will live. As one of their leaders described it, a “city upon a hill”. Hawthorne points out that despite their goal of reaching a Utopia, the Puritans definitely expect crime in their city, “The founders of a new colony, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site for a prison.” Although the Puritans claim that their town is perfect, they must not truly believe this if a prison is one of the first things they build. Another example of their hypocrisy that Hawthorne shows is while Hester is being judged on the scaffold: “before society had grown corrupt enough to smile, instead of shuddering at it.” Puritans claim to be prime examples of people who attempt to devoid themselves of all sin, yet judge this woman from their community and use this judgment to punish her even! They are clearly not the near-saints they claim to be since they are so judgmental.

Hawthorne uses another, more direct technique to illustrate his disapproval of the Puritans. His description of the Puritan woman who speaks of Hester as she exits the prison shows his criticism, as well as his respect for Anne Hutchinson. Hawthorne sounds very condescending while talking about the Puritan women outside the jail, “There was, moreover, a boldness and rotundity of speech among these matrons, as most of them seemed to be, that would startle us at the...

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...On Calvinism in Hawthorne'sScarletLetter
ZHONGHAO Diao
Abstract: Hawthorne is a famous American writer. He wrote many excellent novels, which are popular among the readers at home and abroad. He lived in 19th century when Puritanism was still prevailing. And his family members were strict followers of Puritanism, who did lots of extreme misdeeds. This kind of family background had influenced Hawthorne a lot. These two factors both contributed to Hawthorne's writing style and themes. He believed that man was born with sin, and mankind was basically depraved. The doctrines of Calvinism have overlapped meanings with Puritanism, such as the concept of the original sin, atonement and so on. In a word, the big environment and the writer's background and experience both can account for a writer's themes and writing style.
Key words: Calvinism; Puritanism; sin; Hawthorne; Young Goodman Brown; Hester; Dimmesdale; Pearl; Chillingworth
摘要：霍桑是美国的著名作家， 他写了很多优秀的作品，在国内外读者当中深受欢迎。霍桑主要生活在19世纪，在当时清教主义盛行，并且对人们有相当大的影响力，清教主义与加尔文主义有很多相近之处，比如对原罪论的理解，对救赎论的理解等等。因此，在某种程度上,加尔文主义可以近似地理解为清教主义。霍桑的祖先是严格奉行清教主义的著名人物，并且他们做了很多耸人听闻的迫害异教徒的事情。为此，霍桑感到很有罪恶感。他认为人性本恶，这种罪是与生俱来的。当时的社会大环境，个人的身世背景和经历，这两个因素都共同影响着一个作家的写作主题和风格。因此，我们在分析和解读一个作家的作品时，必须将这两个因素考虑在内，结合起来，来帮助我们的理解。
关键词：加尔文主义； 清教主义； 罪； 霍桑；年轻的布朗； 海丝特； 丁梅丝代尔； 珍珠； 奇灵沃丝；
Chapter 1 Introduction
With the publication of The ScarletLetter in 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne...

...Hawthorne'stoneSCARLETLETTER
A) Hawthorne's viewpoint of Pearl seems to be exceptionally adoring as he claims that her "beauty shined through the gorgeous robes" (Ch. 6) and there was a "circle of radiance" (Ch. 6) that shone about her. As more of Pearl is revealed, Hawthorne'stone changes to a violent and threatening tone as he states that Pearl showed off a "variety of threatening gestures" (Ch. 7) and with much force she "screamed and shouted" (Ch. 7) at her enemies.
B) Hawthorne's outlook towards Hester Prynne can be seen as admiring as he emphasizes on her figure which had such "perfect elegance" (Ch. 2) and her face which was "beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion" (Ch. 2). He continues to admire her as he affirms that her hair was "dark and rich" (Ch.18) and out of her eyes, she gleamed "a radiant and tender smile" (Ch. 18).
C) Hawthorne's perspective of Authur Dimmesdale appears to be pensive and questioning as he comes to wander why Dimmesdale's cheek continues to get "paler and thinner" (Ch. 9). "Does he wish to die?" (Ch.9) questions Hawthorne considering that Dimmesdale said [he needs no medicine] (Ch. 9). The tone Hawthorne uses changes to an apprehensive tone as he states that when Dimmesdale was coming to the point of revealing his sin, "he trembled"...

...Chapter IX, pages 121-127, of The ScarletLetter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne gives the reader better insight as to who truly is "Roger Chillingworth," and his effect on Boston's beloved Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale.
By renaming himself upon his arrival in Boston, Massachusetts, Roger Chillingworth has concealed his past from everyone in the community except Hester Prynne, his young wife whom had arrived years earlier than him in the New World.
It has been described how, in the crowd that gathered before Hester, stood an old, tired, and crooked man, who, after being released by hostile Native Americans, finds his wife, holding an infant, shamefully standing on a scaffold. From the whispery gossip exchanged between the other spectators, Chillingworth learns that Hester is being condemned for committing adultery; a shameful offense that is unacceptable in this Puritan society. Chillingworth asks himself why he, having the most intimate connection with Hester, should admit his true relationship to this dishonorable woman. He reasons that if he does disclose his true identity, he too will be publicly scorned for her sins, and thus, be "pillared beside her on her pedestal of shame." (98)
Chillingworth's early studies had made him significantly familiar with the medicine of his day; because of this, he presented himself as a physician to the townspeople of Boston. Skilful men of the medical field were rarely found in the colony, and as a...

...Analysis of Pearl in Hawthorne's "The ScarletLetter"
One of the most significant writers of the romantic period in American
literature was Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne wrote stories that opposed the
ideas of Transcendentalism. Since he had ancestors of Puritan belief, Hawthorne
wrote many stories about Puritan New England. His most famous story is the
ScarletLetter. This novel tells of the punishment of a woman, Hester Prynne,
who committed adultery and gave birth to Pearl. A minister of Boston, Arthur
Dimmesdale, had an affair with Hester while believing that her husband, Roger
Chillingworth, had died. However, Chillingworth did not die and appears during
the early stages of Hester's punishment.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the character of Pearl in the
ScarletLetter. Her whole life had many difficulties while living in Puritan
New England. Furthermore, Pearl displays much parallelism to the scarletletter
that Hester must wear. Finally, Pearl's birth intensified the conflicts in the
novel. Clearly, Pearl becomes the symbol of all the other major characters'
tragedies.
Chronology
The character of Pearl in the ScarletLetter lived a very difficult life.
Before the novel begins, Hester Prynne gives birth to Pearl after having an
affair with Arthur...

...red as the letter that symbolize the infamy, and with the same luxury : " Her mother [...]had bought the richest tissues that could be procured, and allowed her imaginative faculty its full play in the arrangement and decoration of the dresses which the child wore, before the public eye. " (p.114). The art of her mother is used to exhaust her beauty with gorgious clothes that dress her as a doll. It seems that Hester sins by pride, as well as by lust. She's a reflect of her mother as a child. She symbolizes the growing rebellion of Hester against the rules of te puritan society. But Hester is not really a figure of rebellion. She believes in God, in her fault, and in her shame. She's incredibly strong. But if the embroidered letter is an act of pride, I think it's rather the pride of the martyr who loves his suffering in a masochist way, rather than the pride of a free mind defying the society. Hester is a saint. It's strange that the the comparison between her and the virgin Mary is not more important (I think there is only one allusion in the first chapter), because of the thematic of the child without a father – And the adultery woman is also a thematic of the new testament.
Hester is a saint – not because of the absence of sin, but because of her redemption and her suffering. That's why I don't really see the scarletletter as a feminist novel. Hester is not fighting for her rights. She thinks she deserves the...

...Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Diction of
The ScarletLetter
The ScarletLetter by Nathaniel Hawthorne presents the reader with the harsh, life changing conflicts of three Puritan characters during the 17th century. Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Robert Chillingworth must endure their different, yet surprisingly similar struggles as the novel progresses. Despite their similarities, Hawthorne shows these individuals deal with their conflicts differently, and in the end, only one prevails. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s intricately critical diction helps determine his didactic tone; during the course of The ScarletLetter, Hawthorne reveals that happiness can be harnessed through one’s perseverance.
Despite Hester Prynne’s disheartening sin of adultery, she constructs a beautifully crafted scarletletter that she is told to wear for the rest of her life; the letter A. The scarletletter is an “elaborate embroidery” against Hester’s breast with “fantastic flourishes of gold thread” (51). Hester first presents her “artistically done” apparel to her town as she stands high atop the scaffold, cradling her newborn daughter (51). While Hester is typically “dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud” in town, the scarletletter she possesses constructs her new...

...Sin, according to the concept of Felix culpa or the fortunate fall, is necessary in human life. Its entire idea is based on the fact that, in order to achieve greatness, man must first "fall". He who rises above his offense evolves both spiritually and morally. In The ScarletLetter Nathaniel Hawthorne presents the character of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale in such a humane way that, instinctively, their suffering and pain becomes a strange object of interest and pity. The manners in which their distress occurs, however, are entirely different. While the reverend undergoes a deep torment of the soul, one that leads to his climatic revelation, the adulteress experiences misery through social estrangement. Either way, both the frail man and the misunderstood woman undergo a drastic metamorphosis that, by the use of a precise novel structure and three balanced scaffold scenes, bring the story to a full circle.
Arthur Dimmesdale; the dutiful minister who cannot admit his own humanity; the troubled lover who cannot expose his hidden adoration; the absent father who must publicly reject his daughter, is the central figure that demonstrates the concept of the fortunate fall. Throughout the entire novel Dimmesdale is the personification of human feebleness, sorrow, and ill-health. However it is not his corporal being that is most affected but his inner one. Hawthorne supports this when he admits, "Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the...

...Symbols in The ScarletLetter
Symbolism plays an important role in many novels. Held with the distinction of implying important themes, symbols add depth to a story. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The ScarletLetter takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1640’s. Embellished with symbols and hidden themes, the novel tells “a tale of human frailty and sorrow” (Hawthorne 46). In addition to human flaw and sadness, the novel reveals inhumane punishment and torture from the government and citizens of Puritan society. All of these subjects are given a deeper meaning through symbols. These symbols help manifest the undertones of man vs. nature. The rose bush, prison, scaffold and brook represent complex and essential symbols in The ScarletLetter.
Hawthorne first introduces two symbols, the rose bush and the prison, to the reader. According to Bloom, “the rosebush stands for the spontaneous and irrepressible life of nature and instinct, while the prison door stands for the harsh limitations that must be imposed on nature to maintain order in human societies” (13). Since the rose bush lies so close to the prison, one could interpret the co-existence as a sort of yin and yang. This also implies that where evil and corruption reside, purity and native morality will follow. Representing all things good-natured, the rose bush appears “to symbolize some sweet moral blossom...